Bill Chappell

Bill Chappell is a writer and editor on the Newsdesk, in the heart of NPR's newsroom in Washington, D.C.

Chappell's work at NPR has ranged from being the site's first full-time homepage editor to being the lead writer and editor for online coverage of several Olympic Games, from London 2012 to Pyeongchang 2018. His assignments have included being the lead web producer for NPR's trip to Asia's Grand Trunk Road, as well as establishing the Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps on NPR.org.

In the past, Chappell has edited and coordinated digital features for Morning Edition and Fresh Air, in addition to editing the rundown of All Things Considered. He frequently contributes to other NPR blogs, such as All Tech Considered and The Salt.

In 2009, Chappell was a key editorial member of the small team that redesigned NPR's web site. One year later, NPR.org won its first Peabody Award, along with the National Press Foundation's Excellence in Online Journalism award.

At NPR, Chappell has trained both digital and radio staff to use digital tools to tell compelling stories, in addition to "evangelizing" — promoting more collaboration between legacy and digital departments.

Prior to joining NPR, Chappell was part of the Assignment Desk at CNN International, handling coverage in areas from the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America, and coordinating CNN's pool coverage on major events.

Chappell's work for CNN included editing digital video and producing web stories for SI.com. He also edited and produced stories for CNN.com's features division.

Before joining CNN, Chappell wrote about movies, restaurants and music for alternative weeklies, in addition to his first job: editing the police blotter.

A holder of bachelor's degrees in English and History from the University of Georgia, Chappell attended graduate school for English Literature at the University of South Carolina.

The Pentagon says U.S. military personnel in Syria are moving ahead with President Trump's order to pull out of the war-torn country.

The U.S. force in Syria has "begun the process of our deliberate withdrawal from Syria," said Col. Sean Ryan, spokesman for the for Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve. More than 2,000 U.S. troops are currently deployed in Syria.

Poland's Internal Security Agency has arrested and charged an executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei on suspicion of spying for China. A government spokesman identified the suspect as Weijing W.; media reports in Poland and China say he also is known as Stanislaw Wang, Huawei's sales director in Poland.

Bernice Sandler, the "godmother of Title IX" who died Saturday at the age of 90, is being remembered this week for her lifelong fight to reverse decades of institutional bias in U.S. schools and open new paths for women and girls.

It all started in an elementary school in Brooklyn, N.Y., when Sandler was a determined little girl nicknamed Bunny. She was offended by the way the boys got to do all the classroom activities.

"For example, running a slide projector," says Marty Langelan, who was Sandler's friend and colleague for nearly 50 years.

A federal judge in California has dismissed Ashley Judd's claim of sexual harassment in her lawsuit against disgraced former mega-producer Harvey Weinstein. But the judge also said Judd can pursue her accusation that Weinstein tried to ruin her career after she rejected his advances.

"America is a force for good in the Middle East," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday in Cairo, in an expansive speech in which the top U.S. diplomat repudiated the Obama administration's Middle East policies and accused it of making crucial errors that worsened a string of crises in the region.

"The age of self-inflicted American shame is over, and so are the policies that produced so much needless suffering," Pompeo said.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has apparently snubbed U.S. national security adviser John Bolton, canceling a planned meeting to discuss the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria as well as the fate of a U.S.-allied Kurdish militia fighting ISIS in Syria.

Bolton's meeting with Erdogan was canceled moments before it was to begin, reflecting Turkish anger at Bolton's insistence that those Kurdish forces be protected after more than 2,000 American troops exit northeastern Syria.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has granted executive clemency to Cyntoia Brown, who has been serving a life sentence for a murder she committed when she was 16 years old. Brown's cause was championed by a number of celebrities, including Rihanna.

Brown's supporters have said she acted in self-defense when she killed a man who had paid to have sex with her, describing her as a victim of human trafficking who was preyed upon when she was homeless. They also say Brown has remade herself while in prison — and on Monday, Haslam agreed.

Actor Kevin Spacey appeared in a Massachusetts district court on Monday to face accusations that he sexually assaulted an 18-year-old man in Nantucket — a felony charge that was recently filed over an incident that occurred in 2016.

"A not guilty plea was entered on the defendant's behalf" to the charge of indecent assault and battery, the district attorney's office said.

Gabon says it has put down an apparent coup attempt after armed soldiers seized a state radio station early Monday morning and broadcast a statement declaring the nation was under their control and that a new leader would be chosen.

But within hours, government spokesman Guy-Bertrand Mapangou announced the coup had failed, saying, "The situation is under control."

Embassies of several countries are trying to assist ex-U.S. Marine Paul Whelan as he remains in a Moscow prison over allegations of espionage. Whelan was born in Canada and has since gained citizenship in the U.S., Britain and Ireland.

If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison. At least three countries have confirmed that they have requested consular access to Whelan: The U.S., Britain and Ireland say they're working to support him in detention and ensure his rights are respected.

Hackers have published cellphone numbers, credit card data and private communications belonging to members of nearly every German political party, in a sweeping breach last month that reportedly also affected German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the only main party whose members were spared from the attack, according to RBB Inforadio, a Berlin-based public broadcaster that broke the story.

Two more people have died as a result of Wednesday's train accident on a bridge in central Denmark, police say, raising the death toll to eight. Investigators believe the passenger train hit an empty truck trailer from a freight train going in the opposite direction.

Wild Eyes — the sailboat abandoned by American Abby Sunderland in her failed bid to circumnavigate the world solo as a 16-year-old — has been found floating off of Australia's coast, nearly nine years after she was rescued in the Indian Ocean.

Seeing her boat again brought back a flood of emotions, says Sunderland, who is now 25.

Russia has allowed U.S. consular officials to speak to Paul Whelan, the U.S. citizen who was arrested last week by Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB, on suspicion of spying. But family members say Whelan was visiting Moscow to attend a wedding, not to steal secrets.

At least six people were killed and 16 more wounded Wednesday in an accident that happened as a passenger train was crossing a long bridge between two islands in central Denmark. Citing police, Danish media say the train was hit by something that fell off a passing freight train.

The accident happened around 7:30 a.m. on the busy Storebaelt bridge and tunnel system that connects the central islands of Zealand and Funen, according to the Danish Broadcasting Corp.